Knives become dull at the most inopportune times. A knife blade becomes dull from use, and too often the blade will dull before the use is complete. This situation happens all too often, but is particularly true with dressing big game. The usually unpleasant job of dressing and skinning a large animal is made all the more unpleasant and time consuming when a dull knife must be used.
Of course a solution to the above problem is to stop and resharpen the dull blade. Another is to carry two sharp knives. Neither solution is adequate. Re-sharpening a blade requires sharpening tools, usually stones, that are heavy and bulky to carry. In addition, re-sharpening takes valuable time. Carrying two knives is a practice used by some, but is not economically justifiable nor is the added weight of a second knife particularly attractive to a hunter or guide who is not interested in an "armed to the teeth" look. Further, when the cutting task is complete, two knives require re-sharpening.
It is therefor an object of the present invention to provide a novel knife and a releasable blade having two opposed, longitudinally overlapping sharp edges that may be interchanged so when one edge becomes dull, the blade may be removed from the knife, reversed and remounted to expose a fresh, sharp cutting edge. Further, by providing a single knife body and a reversible blade that is removable from the knife body, several reversible blades can be easily carried without adding significantly to a pack weight. Still further, the removable reversible blade may be disposable for easy, economic replacement without requiring replacement of the knife body.
The above and further objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description which, taken with the accompanying drawings also describe the best mode presently known for carrying out the invention.